The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 23, July 1919 - April, 1920 Page: 198
319 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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198 The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
not to accept it-and but for Colonel Barnet and Clements, and
Kerr, would have declined.10
On February 21, he wrote that he had no idea of retreating, nor
ever had had; yet after Johnson's defeat he wrote at least two let-
ters urging a retrograde movement. " He, however, did not feel
himself qualified to order such a movement, but bound to main-
tain his present position till ordered to abandon it. On March 1,
he wrote:
I again repeat to you, that I consider myself bound to await
your orders. I can not, in a military point of view, be considered
now as acting commander-in-chief, as I have never received orders
to that effect, nor has the army. Again, I received furlough to
the first of April. Again, I am chosen Commander of this Regi-
ment of Volunteers. Lastly, I have orders from you not to make
a retrograde movement,12 but to wait orders and reinforcements.
He then urged that his stores on Matagorda Bay be protected,
that his name be erased from the list of officers or expectants for
office, and that leave be granted him to bring off his brave volun-
teers in the best manner he might be able.
Fannin was keenly disappointed at the apathy of the Texana,
"If this apathy continues," he wrote February 14, "we can never
hope long for the aid of the volunteers; and I am certain we will
not be worthy of the protecting Aegis of the Gods, and if we lose
them both, then, indeed, is our chance hopeless." There were few
Texans among his troops, a situation which he early reported, but
which he said was at first somewhat relieved by the hope of speedy
action. The volunteers manifested a "willingness, nay anxiety,"
to meet the Mexicans, but they also looked to the Texans to turn
out en masse to aid them. Though assuring his soldiers that the
Texans would respond to his appeals for aid, and though grateful
to the Governor and Council for the steps they had taken to get
the militia into the field, yet Fannin declared that he was scepti-
"Letter of February 22. Foote, Texas and the Texans, II, 214.
"Letters of February 28 (Manuscript), Lamar Papers, and March 1,
Foote, Texas and the Texans, II, 216-18.
"Fannin felt that the order to retreat should come either from the
commander-in-chief, or from the council under whose direction he had
undertaken the expedition. At this time he refused to retreat, because
he had been ordered by the Council to hold his position. Later, on re-
ceiving orders from Houston, he set about obyeing them but was pre-
vented by circumstances.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 23, July 1919 - April, 1920, periodical, 1920; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101075/m1/204/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.